


Ours

by grexigone



Series: Freya the Tooka [1]
Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff, Gen, Jyn is a cat person you can fight me on this, Post-Canon, Rebelcaptain - Freeform, also: adopt don't shop LOL, loth cat, tooka cat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-09
Updated: 2017-12-09
Packaged: 2019-02-12 11:59:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12958710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grexigone/pseuds/grexigone
Summary: What seemed to be harmless to Jyn was not always the case with Cassian.





	Ours

The sun left a beautiful orange trail between the skyscrapers of Coruscant, and Cassian Andor thought the day could not have been better: mission went well, information gathered, no casualties, and he'd have one free day to spend in the city before returning to the Rebel base.

And the best part of it all, though he didn't dare to admit it out loud, was that he got to spend that day with Jyn, who was walking closely beside him as they wandered around the street market. The place was crowded; Cassian wasn’t usually fond of narrow and loud places like this, but he also enjoyed the unintentional proximity it brought to him and Jyn—her shoulder bumped with his forearm every now and then.

They took a turn into a small alley, and Jyn immediately positioned herself in front of Cassian, walking a little faster while maintaining a reasonable distance. She stood on her tiptoes every now and then, scanning their surroundings as if looking for something. Cassian couldn't stop a smile from breaking. It was funny to think how the same woman who could beat ten Stormtroopers in one go was now looking like a little girl trying to find her favorite snack.

Cassian didn't really have anything to look for, so he took the rare chance to just let his mind wander while keeping an eye on Jyn. The first thing that came to his mind was the three awkward nights they'd spent, maintaining a safe distance from one another in the small bed they shared.

It wasn't like he'd never seen her asleep before; when Cassian opened his eyes--after what felt like a century of sleep—in the med bay of Yavin 4, he immediately caught her small figure dozing on a chair beside his bed, head propped up on one fisted hand.

They never talked about it afterwards, but he was aware of how they'd been dancing around each other for months now after Scarif. It was also obvious to the Rogue One team, and they took the time to politely urge him to _settle_ whatever it is between him and Jyn. He always managed to excuse himself by saying that there was no time to talk about _personal stuff_ during wartime (Bodhi would roll his eyes; Baze would grumble incoherently; Chirrut suddenly became blind _and_ deaf; and only K2 would state his approval). 

His thought was cut off for a second to check on Jyn, who had stopped in front of a food stand to buy a weird fish-shaped thing. She was immediately crowded in between larger creatures standing beside her, and Cassian was left with only her head and usual bun to look at. It was distracting how the same bun has been left untied the other nights, blessing him with rare sight of Jyn's brown hair sprawled onto the pillow. It was a beautiful sight to wake up to, and once again, Cassian let himself smile.

A Twi'lek suddenly crashed into his left side, and Cassian instinctively reached for his blaster. The Twi'lek was polite enough to mutter an apology and soon enough went out of sight.

But so  did Jyn.

Cassian squinted his eyes to look closely at the small crowd gathering in front the food stall, but he couldn't see her figure. He muttered a curse in Festian while twisting his body around, looking past everyone to find those familiar green eyes of her or _anything_ , but to no avail. 

Jyn could defend herself well enough, but that didn’t mean Cassian could cease to care. 

He moved forward now, eyes still scanning their surroundings to find Jyn, but she had just simply disappeared. Cassian's mind automatically calculated all the possibilities--someone from her past could've identified her, probably as Kestrel Dawn or Lianna Halik or any of her past identities and taken her. Or they could've been compromised; someone might've noticed who they really were and snatched her away.

Cassian didn't really want to admit that after several minutes he started to feel a bit of panic, searching every corner, shadows, and stalls around him. He mentally ignored all the angry grunts from all creatures he bumped into along the way, muttering apologies without looking at their faces.

 _This is totally not funny_ , he thought. _Why can't we just have one “normal” day to…_

Cassian could easily ignore it, but something caught in the corner of his eyes and he spun his head so quickly it hurt his neck.

Inside a narrow and dim alley, Jyn was squatting with one knee on the ground while supporting her elbow on the other, her back facing him. With three long steps Cassian hovered above her, blaster ready in his hand on instinct.

Just as Cassian took a step closer, a pair of small eyes peeked out from Jyn's shadow, startling him before running away into the pile of boxes nearby. He immediately looked down, wasn’t convinced that Jyn was safe until he found those green eyes. She turned to Cassian slowly, her expression plain as if she hadn't just given him a heart attack moment ago. 

" _Where the kriff have you been?_ " Cassian managed to ask. Jyn's attention now returned to where the weird creature had gone.

"Here," she answered simply.

Cassian muttered his frustration in Festian, knowing for sure Jyn wouldn't understand any word. Surprisingly, she held out one hand to silence him, pulling out the snack she’d bought earlier, and cutting a small piece out of it before throwing it to the boxes.

"Jyn, what--"

"Shh, quiet. Would you lower that blaster?" He didn't even realize he was still holding it in firing position. 

As soon as the blaster was away, those small eyes reappeared, just a shy figure in the shadows. Jyn made a clucking noise with her tongue, and the creature moved closer towards the thrown food, sniffing it. Now that its whole body was revealed, Cassian could see its wide mouth, high pointed ears, and striped plump tail wiggling curiously.

It was the most bizarre creature he'd ever seen, Cassian concluded. And he had seen many creatures in the galaxy.

"It's a Tooka cat," Jyn whispered, pointing her chin towards the creature, which had managed to scoop the food into its mouth. "They're native here."

The said Tooka now sat on its hind legs, staring intently at them as Jyn put the rest of the snack on her palm, extending it slowly. Cassian watched as the creature devoured the snack until the last bit, and proceeded to lick Jyn's fingers so eagerly for a second he was worried the cat would eat her hand, too.

But then Jyn's lips curved up. Ever so slowly like a blooming flower, growing and growing until it lit up her face the same way she smiled at him before they entered Scarif's shield gate: beautiful. Her extended hand was now on the Tooka's neck, scratching it gently as the creature purred in approval.

Another piece of her puzzle, Cassian thought, and didn't even realize he'd been staring at her too long until Jyn tilted her head with a furrowed brow. Her smile disappeared.

"What? It wasn't like I was going to run away or something. I just got distracted for a while."

"It's alright, Jyn," he lied, already missing her smile. "Just…never thought you were a pet person."

She snorted, and her lips curved up once again. "I'm not. It just reminds me of…"

Even after months of battles and missions together, Cassian noticed that Jyn still hesitated before opening up, telling something about herself or her past. He was dying to know more, always grateful when she gave away one story or two only to him, but Cassian knew better than to press her. And one way to keep the conversation going was to made her feel comfortable and safe, so Cassian moved forward to stand beside the Tooka cat, careful so he didn't step on its tail. 

"Come here," Jyn said softly. By now the creature already toppled onto the ground, closing its eyes peacefully while the purr intensified. Cassian complied with her invitation and squatted down, the Tooka's belly exposed in front of him. "It's a she. They're more friendly and trustful than the males. You can stroke her gently here." Jyn pointed at the said belly.

Cassian hesitated. All of his life he had learned that the creatures of the galaxy either wanted to eat you or kill you, and if he was being honest, the Tooka's wide mouth still made him suspicious.

"Oh, come on, Cassian, they don't bite." In one swift move Jyn gripped Cassian's wrist with her free hand and brought it closer ( _too close_ , he thought) to the creature. "Softly. Whatever you do, don't touch her tail."

"I thought you said they don't bite."

"They don't. But they have sharp teeth and claws." Cassian quirked up one brow but eventually moved his hand to the Tooka's belly. The first contact surprised them both, and the cat opened its eyes for a second before Jyn scratched the right spot and she melted away once again. 

"You can move your hand, you know." Jyn's face was the softest he'd ever seen save from her sleeping one, and he had to swallow to gain composure. To his surprise, the Tooka's fur was unbelievably soft under his palm. The rise and fall of its breathing combined with the low purr created an unexpected comfort in that dark and narrow alley.

"I always wanted one," Jyn broke the silence. "When we lived here, I used to go to a market like this with my mother. She would buy some snacks, then we'd go to a dead end like this and scatter the snacks on the ground. Three or four Tookas would show up, and there was this one fat yellow Tooka who was my favorite and I would beg my mother to bring her home with us, but she always said no."

The cat had become _too_ comfortable, lying completely on its back, and Cassian dared himself to add more pressure to his stroke. The Tooka's hind leg twitched every now and then, but otherwise she enjoyed the attention she got from the two kind strangers. Jyn stared at it fondly; the same expression remained when her eyes met his.

"When we moved to Lah'mu, my father made me a Tooka doll for my eight birthday, saying I'd have a real one for next year."

 She didn't need to continue her story from there. Cassian had read her files a hundred times. He already knew what happened next.

 Being impulsive was always Jyn's trait, but his next words proved the otherwise.

 "We could keep this one."

 Jyn blinked at him, and Cassian immediately questioned his decision.

 "What….?" She looked genuinely surprised. "Cassian, I don't mean that I want it _now_. I'm just saying that I…would want one. Eventually."

"Well, that's too bad. Because I do."

Jyn had stopped scratching the Tooka, and its eyes opened in annoyance. A soft meow escaped, but Jyn ignored it, still gaping at Cassian.

"You want a Tooka cat? _You_ _?_ _Now_?"

Cassian kept his expression as neutral as possible and shrugged. "Do you want to leave her like this? Look at her, she loves this." 

"I don't think we can just bring a cat into the Rebel base, Cassian. Even if we do, who will feed her? Where would we put her?" The Tooka was now tugging impatiently at Jyn's hand, still meowing to get her attention.

"Jyn, she's a stray. If she managed to survive this whole time alone without a permanent source of food, I am quite sure she could manage living in a Rebel base. Besides, I once heard there's an increasing amount of rats back home, so she might be useful too."

Jyn squinted her eyes, still unconvinced. Cassian took the initiative to scratch the cat's neck and it purred aloud gratefully.

"And she could stay in my quarters. I have plenty of room."

The Tooka shifted closer to Cassian. A small voice in his mind also said something about “ _now she'd have a logical reason to come to your quarters,”_ but he ignored it for now.

"...and a 'fresher," he added.

Jyn snorted. "What, so she can have a nice warm bath every now and then?"

Cassian couldn't help but smile at the thought. "We could take care of her." For a split second he thought he saw her blush at the word “we,” but maybe he was wrong. He was caught off guard, though, when Jyn moved forward until their faces were only _inches_ away, and he could feel her breath. Gently, Jyn swooped the Tooka cat up and placed it securely in her arms, her fingers scratching its soft spot once again. 

As if finding their resolution already, they move in sync to stand up and finally, Jyn beamed up with a smile, so contagious Cassian had to mimic her.

"Let's bring her home."

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks for [Starbird](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starbird/pseuds/Starbird) for being an amazing beta! MWA! :*
> 
> The cat's name is Freya, from the Norse goddess Freyja who's famous for having a chariot pulled by two large cats.
> 
> I'm on [Tumblr](https://grexigone.tumblr.com/) too, feel free to say hi! My askbox is always open :D
> 
> **UPDATE** Check out this AMAZING and LOVELY art by [Jeanne](https://pingou7.tumblr.com/post/168793689613/jyn-erso-freya-the-tooka-cat-this-is-a-special), loosely inspired by this fic! Thank you, love! 
> 
> and please also check these amazing arts of Jyn (+Cassian) with tooka/loth cat from [Molly](https://satmolly.tumblr.com/post/167575833621/star-wars-sketch-dump-drawing-requests-jyn) and [Jojo](http://crazy-fruit.tumblr.com/post/167426182102/heres-a-request-the-two-of-them-and-their) and don't forget to send them some love!


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